The Hindu : National : Lalu-Paswan spat echoes again

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Thursday, Dec 09, 2004

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National

Lalu-Paswan spat echoes again

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 8. Amid a volley of charges and counter-charges, the Lalu-Paswan public spat was raised in the Lok Sabha for the second day today. It culminated in the Opposition staging a walkout to register its protest against the Government's refusal to give in to its demand for a statement from the Prime Minister.

The Opposition alleged that the Government was trying to ``close the chapter'' with a clarification from the Railway Minister, Lalu Prasad. Mr. Prasad had claimed earlier that he had never made any corruption charges against his Cabinet colleague, Ram Vilas Paswan.

Trouble began at the start of Zero Hour itself with the Janata Dal (United) member, Prabhunath Singh, wanting to know when the Prime Minister would make a statement on the issue. When the Speaker, Somnath Chatterjee, said that he cannot compel the Prime Minister to make a statement, the Leader of the Opposition, L. K. Advani, made an intervention.

Mr. Advani said the public spat between the two Ministers was obviously an important issue as the Prime Minister himself had spoken to them.

``It shows that the Prime Minister has taken a serious view of the entire issue, and so he should take Parliament into confidence.''

Amid the accusations that flew thick and fast from both sides, Mr. Prasad sought permission to clarify on the premise that he had been named.

Lalu responds

In his response, the Railway Minister said there was no truth in the newspaper reports; setting off a chorus of ``TV-TV'' from the Opposition benches. Pointing to Mr. Prabhunath Singh, the Minister said: ``Mr. Singh is misleading the House. I have not made any such accusation against Mr. Paswan.'' This led to another round of vociferous protests from the Opposition through which the Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Gulam Nabi Azad, told the House that there would be no statement coming from the Government ``at the moment''.

Mr. Azad's contention was that since the Railway Minister himself had clarified, ``the chapter is closed'' to which Mr. Advani countered: ``Has the Government abandoned the principle of collective responsibility of the Council of Ministers to the Lok Sabha. We do not want a clarification from either of the two Ministers. We want an explanation from the Prime Minister.''

With the Government refusing to budge, Mr. Advani led the Opposition out of the House.

Though the National Democratic Alliance members returned to the House almost immediately, the rest of Zero Hour was conducted in a restive atmosphere.

The Speaker had to issue numerous warnings to members to restore a ``semblance of normalcy''.

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